At the DorBAG meeting with the BBC and Digital UK on 14th January, 2011, the BBC presented the outcome of their telephone survey for BBC Radio Dorset. In essence, they only covered that part of Dorset covered by Wessex FM, and not the whole rural county as previously promised! While all this was going on, the BBC management changed in the south west. The two new region managers have now changed the plan and are thinking of sourcing a partial, part time programme for Dorset out of Radio Solent instead of Radio Devon. While the managers said they want to implement their plan, it will (initially anyway, and if approved by the Trust) only be broadcast from the Bincombe Hill Transmitter between Dorchester and Weymouth, and therefore will only cover some of the eastern half of the county. We have made clear this is not acceptable and want it extended to cover the whole county. Not only that but we are thoroughly fed up with having changed and delayed plans all the time without the BBC actually doing anything. We will fight all the way to get a proper service for the county! BBC broadcast coverage slides can be seen below - you will notice many gaps in coverage in their slides! - :

The BBC Trust has also added another hurdle in that they have to prove that this new station will not adversley affect Wessex FM - as the intention is to eventually cover all of Dorset, we cannot see why this might be a problem as Wessex FM focuses on the central area only.

Further slides were presented at our request to show a) any BBC national transmitter coverage of the county